FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For Further Information Contact: Reggi Veatch Senior Communications Manager veatchr@dfmc.org 410-872-9646	Jennifer Hudman Burness Communications 301.652.1558 jhudman@burnesscommunications.com

Delmarva Foundation Announcement New Medicare Web Resource
To Give Hospital Patients Quality Information
Hospital Compare Lets Consumers See Which
Maryland Hospitals Are Best At Treating Heart Attacks, Heart Failure and Pneumonia

Baltimore, Md, April 4, 2005 - Delmarva Foundation, Maryland's Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO), today unveiled a new, free Web-based tool that provides consumers objective, easy-to-use information about the quality of care provided by their local hospital. Hospital Compare will let Maryland consumers see which hospitals in their area implement the best medical practices for treating patients for three serious medical conditions - heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia. For the first time, consumers will also be able to compare how their hospitals fare against hospitals in other states.

"In addition to being an important consumer tool, Hospital Compare is an essential guide for providers. By reporting these kinds of quality measures, hospitals and other providers are motivated to improve care," said Maulik Joshi, President and CEO of the Easton-based Delmarva Foundation. "In working with our local hospitals, we have seen first hand how hospitals are making changes and improving. We commend our state's hospitals for making quality a top priority every day."

Hospital Compare is a national effort by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in partnership with the Hospital Quality Alliance and nearly every acute care hospital in the nation. This new consumer education tool is the product of a CMS initiative involving hospital, consumer, and health care partners to improve quality through public reporting. It is part of a national quality initiative undertaken by the federal government over the past two years that also focuses on improving the quality of care in home health agencies and nursing homes.

"We are working closely with Maryland's health care providers and Delmarva Foundation to improve the quality of care available in hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and dialysis centers," said Nancy B. O'Conner, CMS Regional Administrator. "This is just one more step we are taking to make sure that Medicare fits beneficiaries' health care needs."

Hospital Compare is available at www.HospitalCompare.hhs.gov or www.medicare.gov and then by selecting Compare Hospitals in Your Area. Calling a toll free hotline at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) can also access it.

The quality measures on Hospital Compare are derived from data from each hospital's patient records. Hospital Compare reports information for all hospitals on three conditions based on 10 widely accepted quality measures endorsed by the National Quality Forum.

The quality measures are designed to enable more scientifically based "apples to apples" comparisons of different hospitals on a national basis. Some of the quality measures that patients should be considering when choosing a hospital:

• Whether the facility dispenses aspirin within 24 hours of arrival and prescribes Beta blocker at discharge for a heart attack;
• Whether it checks to see how the left heart chamber is pumping among patients suffering from heart failure and prescribes an ACE Inhibitor upon discharge; or
• Whether it provides an antibiotic within four hours of arrival for pneumonia and provides patients pneumonia vaccinations before they leave the hospital.

Hospital Compare will be updated periodically. In the future, CMS will publish additional quality measures and will also add a patient satisfaction survey to the Web site.

###

About Delmarva Foundation
Delmarva Foundation is a national, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality in over 20 states. Since 1973, Delmarva has assisted in improving care in hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, medical practices and health plans. Delmarva performs quality improvement, quality assurance, utilization review, external quality review and Program Safeguard activities. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Easton, Maryland with other offices in Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, DC; Columbia, South Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and Tallahassee, Florida. For more information, please visit Delmarva Foundation on the web at www.delmarvafoundation.org.